Exercises for losing weight on the stomach and sides at home * Effective, physical, easy workouts

Excess weight and a protruding tummy are a problem not only for women and girls, but also men often face this problem. The modern rhythm of life, in which there is not enough time for proper sleep and breakfast, a sedentary lifestyle and constant stress lead to problems with the figure, which leads to problems with physical and psychological health.

The stomach is a classic problem area that can and should be dealt with in order to achieve curves in the waist, getting rid of extra centimeters. To get rid of excess fat deposits as quickly as possible and not harm your health, it is better to seek the services of a professional trainer. Losing weight too quickly can lead to health problems such as organ prolapse.

Therefore, everything should be in moderation. Below you will find simple and safe exercises for losing weight on your stomach and sides, which you can do at home. As well as expert advice on speeding up the process of losing excess weight.

Causes of fat on the stomach and sides

Excess fat on the stomach and sides is not simply deposited. This is due to a number of reasons: poor nutrition, genetic predisposition, inactive lifestyle, hormones. Some of them can be easily eliminated by revising your diet, adding exercise and walking. But there are problems when abdominal correction requires medical intervention and we are not talking about plastic surgery.

Poor metabolism

Metabolism is most often disrupted due to poor nutrition and drinking habits. Fasting, or one or two meals a day, contributes to metabolic disorders; the body is reluctant to digest and release carbohydrates and fats to provide energy. And also, the most important meal of the day is breakfast; many people mistakenly skip it, believing that this will burn fat faster. This is where fat reserves appear in the abdominal area, both in men and women. Everything turns out the other way around - a constant supply of food and water speeds up the metabolism.

Genetics

Excess weight is the cause not only of genetic predisposition and heredity, but also of body constitution. An ectomorph (thin build, with a low percentage of body fat) has the fastest metabolism. A mesomorph (average build, with normal body fat) is also endowed with a good metabolism. But it is the endomorph (strong build, with a wider bone structure, high percentage of fat) who most often gains excess weight. Any malnutrition, lack of exercise or rest, immediately affects the adipose tissue of this type of physique.

Sedentary lifestyle and poor posture

Lack of movement is the reason why fat can be deposited at any type of constitution, age and gender. If you are not moving, then you are not wasting energy. If nutrients obtained from food are not used as energy for life, they are stored as fat.

You need to walk more, or take a walk during a break or before going to bed, this will expend more energy, and therefore, get rid of excess weight. It is also important to monitor your posture while sitting. A twisted back and deflection in the lower back, with a sedentary lifestyle, will lead to atrophy of the muscles of the abdominal area. It will fall forward as if inflated, and this gives the visual effect of a large belly.

Binge eating

The problem for many people is more often associated with some psychological aspect, the “eating” problem, which causes uncontrolled eating. Or this is facilitated by the usual ignorance of the calorie content, fat content and glucose composition of foods. If you eat too much, even if it’s just fruit, the excess calories will cause fat on your sides. And this is inevitable, since the large daily calorie content of food will not have time to be consumed. Also, large gaps between meals contribute to overeating, since when you are hungry, you can eat more than necessary, and satiety will not come immediately.

Stress and illness

Stress also plays an important role in becoming overweight. It leads to overeating or starvation. Both of these negatively affect metabolism. Even a diet in itself is stressful, because the body is accustomed to a certain dietary pattern, and strict restrictions will cause physical and psychological discomfort. Illnesses often lead to loss of appetite, which again provokes the accumulation of fat. Digestive disorders also play a big role in fat gain. The lack of enzymes that participate in digestion and digest substances (fats, carbohydrates) will lead to an increase in waist size. In this matter, you need to consult a doctor.

Little muscle

The more muscle volume a person has, the more energy is spent. They need more substances to feed them, and during exercise and recovery, such muscles burn much more calories. Therefore, atonic (weak) muscles, with low motor activity, spend less energy, and its excess goes straight into subcutaneous fat.

Hormonal changes

Disruption of the endocrine system, if this is the cause of excess weight, requires only medical intervention. This is done by an endocrinologist. You should not solve the problem yourself. The doctor will prescribe tests for certain hormones, identify imbalances and measures to solve the problem. Excess weight in women can accumulate due to dysfunction of the thyroid gland or taking hormonal medications. Sometimes even contraceptive medications can trigger this. In men, a hormonal imbalance is possible in the direction of an increase in female hormones and a decrease in their own testosterone. Hence, manifestations of secondary sexual characteristics are possible, namely excess belly fat.

How to twist the hoop correctly and how much to get rid of the belly and sides?

At the initial stages, start spinning the hula hoop for 5-7 minutes per lesson, with each new lesson gradually increase the time to 45 minutes. Another main aspect that must be taken into account is the time when you can start spinning the hula hoop, namely two hours before or two hours after a meal. Otherwise, you can cause great harm to your health.

To remove the belly with the help of a hala hoop, you need to twist it correctly, just twist it, and not catch it falling; for this you need to make rotational movements with the lower part of the body with a small amplitude. Keep your feet shoulder-width apart or slightly wider, with your knees slightly bent. Keep your abdominal and lower back muscles tense all the time. You need to rotate the hoop clockwise, without making sudden movements, so as not to injure your lower back. Don’t be discouraged if you don’t immediately manage to spin the hoop for a long time, believe me, the technique of correct execution will be perfected over time. When practicing with a hoop, watch your breathing; it should not be intermittent. Proper breathing will help speed up metabolic processes, which in turn will speed up the burning of fat deposits.

Is it possible to get rid of waist fat with just proper nutrition?

Nutrition plays a huge role in weight loss. With just the right nutrition, it is quite possible to get rid of fat, without adding physical activity. But on the contrary - no. If poor nutrition has caused the accumulation of fat, then doing any exercise is unlikely to help remove excess fat from the stomach and sides. It is important to limit the caloric content of the diet, unhealthy fats and fast carbohydrates (sugar) in foods. Physical activity will add additional energy consumption and speed up the results. But still, the loads are secondary.

How to lose weight in your legs at home

Don't rush to look for a set of exercises for your legs. The fact is that without understanding the principles of losing weight, you will not be able to achieve noticeable results. At best, a person will mark time, wasting time and energy.

Remember: it is physiologically impossible to get rid of fat in one specific place on the body. The effect of wrapping with cling film or a woolen belt is due to the loss of fluid, which is replenished several hours after training.

If you are asking how to lose weight in your legs, first of all understand the principles on which fat burning is based. There are two of them:

Efficient energy consumption.
Calorie deficit.

To lose weight, just going on a diet is ineffective. It is necessary to exercise regularly. However, not all of them are suitable for this purpose. It is necessary to select a complex that would expend maximum energy.

It should include multi-joint movements for large muscle groups: legs, back and pectorals. In the gym, examples of such movements are squats with a barbell on the shoulders, deadlifts, and bench presses on a horizontal bench.

It is clear that not everyone has special equipment at home. Therefore, we will consider a simplified set of exercises for training legs.

A set of exercises for losing weight on your legs at home includes:

Bodyweight squats - 3-4 sets of 10-15 reps.

Stand straight, feet shoulder-width apart, feet turned 45 degrees outward, arms at your sides. Looking ahead, while inhaling, bend your knees and lower your pelvis until it is parallel to the floor. Hold for a second and return to the starting position.

Note: As you move, make sure your knees move toward your toes and do not go beyond the front edge of your toes. Don't hunch over, try to lower and stand up under control.

Lunges with dumbbells - 3-4 sets of 10-15 repetitions (on each leg).

Take dumbbells and hold them at your sides with your arms straight. Stand straight, feet together, shoulders down. As you inhale, take a step forward and bend your leading leg. Do not touch the floor with the knee of your remaining leg. As you exhale, return to the starting position and repeat the movement with the other leg.

Note: Keep your back straight during all phases of the movement. The knee should not extend beyond the toe. When you take a step forward, at the bottom point the shin of your leading leg should be strictly perpendicular to the floor.

Deep squat jumps - 3 sets of 5-10 reps.

Take a stable position - feet shoulder-width apart, hands at your sides. Squat deeply below parallel and jump up sharply, raising your arms above your head. As you lower down, squat down again and repeat the exercise.

Note: It is recommended to warm up before jumping. Pay attention to the knees, hip joint and lumbar region.

The effectiveness of various exercises for burning fat on the stomach and sides

Each load has its own effect on the rate of fat burning, but only in combination will each of them be truly effective. We offer below the following exercises that you can perform at home to lose weight in the abdomen and sides.

Running or walking

You can lose weight using only a balanced diet with a slight calorie deficit, but if you add the best fat-burning exercises, you can increase the deficit and speed up the weight loss process. Running is the most effective workout available for burning excess subcutaneous fat. And you don’t have to run, you can take long walks, walk briskly 10 km a day, or as the Japanese say, you need to take 10 thousand steps a day. This is good for the cardiovascular system and figure. You can get rid of your belly and sides without difficulty or harm to your health.

Plank exercise

The plank is a static exercise. These stabilization exercises engage slow-twitch fibers. Of course, energy is wasted to hold a position for a certain time. When doing the plank, raise your pelvis and hold it in this position for at least 15 seconds, each time try to increase the time you perform the exercise. But best of all, fats are burned during dynamic load on long muscle fibers. We recommend performing the plank dynamically, for example, alternately raising your arm and leg crosswise, as shown in the picture above.

Crunches

Crunches are effective because these exercises are dynamic and involve the fast-twitch fibers of the rectus and external oblique abdominal muscles, which leads to the burning of fat in the abdominal and flank areas. Crunches are performed in various variations: on the floor, on a bench, reverse and diagonal crunches. Each of them must be performed by straining the abdominal muscles, and on other parts of the body, and this is very important. The variety of the complex on the abdominal muscles will form an elastic and toned abs. The minimum number of repetitions is 15.

Breathing exercises

Breathing exercises came to us from yogi gymnastics, and it is called pranayama, which translated means “energy management.” Breathing exercises enrich the lungs with oxygen, which helps burn fat. Also, gymnastics perfectly trains the abdominal muscles and is a light massage for the internal organs. But practice will help you lose weight in combination with nutrition and exercise much more effectively. By exercising for 15 minutes a day, you can enhance the process of weight loss by increasing the amount of oxygen in the blood, which is involved in the breakdown of fat cells in the body.

There are several techniques that differ in breathing technique:

oxysize;
bodyflex;
qigong;
Strelnikova gymnastics and others.

Jump rope

A simple and effective way to fight fat is jumping rope. Such workouts burn calories by increasing heart rate, endurance work occurs, and subcutaneous fat is removed evenly from the entire body. Training should be at least 30 minutes a day. You can perform interval complexes: 1 minute of jumping, 1 minute of rest.

Gymnastic Hoop

The second name of the hoop is hula hoop; it can not only train the muscles of the waist area, but also promotes fat burning and helps to shape the abdominal area. Equating to a cardio load, when exercising with a hoop, your heart rate rises, and you can achieve weight loss no worse than from jumping rope or running. But the hoop is not for everyone. For problems with the spine and inflammation of internal organs, hula hoop is contraindicated. It can only aggravate the problem, so it should be abandoned. For a healthy body, it is better to alternate hoop training and abdominal exercises, so the result will be more effective.

Tilts

The process of losing weight depends on nutrition and the overall load on the body. Since there is no local fat burning, it is not worth training the side muscles (obliques) separately, especially with weights. This is because the fat accumulated in this area will be lost from general physical activity, and by working on the obliques, you can increase your waist size. Trained oblique muscles increase, visually making the waist wider. Therefore, pay more attention to the rectus abdominis muscle.

Exercises while lying on the floor

A variety of exercises for the abdominal muscles will simultaneously tone the upper and lower abdomen and burn subcutaneous fat. Load plays an important role here; exercises should literally cause a burning sensation in the muscles. The last repetitions should be difficult, and their number should vary from 15 to 30 repetitions. You need to perform a set of exercises without rest, pausing only after completing the first round.

An effective set of gymnastic exercises for losing weight in the abdomen and sides

Let's start with abs training. There are a lot of exercises for pumping up the abdominal muscles. Some believe that some exercises are more effective than others, but in fact, even familiar and long-familiar exercises give good results if you do them regularly and follow the correct technique.

Twisting (photo)

Abdominal crunches are an exercise familiar from childhood, but usually everyone did it at speed, without thinking about how correctly it was performed.

Crunches can be performed with straight legs or with legs raised, and they can either be placed on an elevated surface, such as a bench, or held in the air. The last option will be the most difficult. This exercise is suitable for both women and men.

The most difficult version of the crunch exercise is to do it while keeping your legs in the air

Exercise technique:

We lie down on our backs.
You can hold your hands behind your head, on your chest, or leave them along your body. If you are a beginner, you can stretch your arms along your body and slightly hold your hips - this is the easiest option. Crossing your arms over your chest will make the exercise a little more difficult. And if we want to make this exercise as difficult as possible, then we should remove our hands behind our heads.
We either place our legs on the floor with the knees bent, or move them to a height, or hold them in the air.
Press your lower back to the floor.
We take a deep breath and, as we exhale, begin to twist, lifting our shoulder blades off the floor.
Inhaling, we lower ourselves back down and relax.

Twisting exercise technique

Repeat 20–25 times. 3-4 approaches will be enough.

Video: Body crunches

Lying on your back (for women and men)

The sit-up is an excellent exercise for developing and strengthening the rectus abdominis muscles.

Exercise technique:

We lie down on our backs.
We bend our legs at the knees and place them shoulder-width apart. During the exercise, your feet do not need to be lifted off the floor (this often happens, since the legs serve as a counterweight and “try to help you get up”), so you can immediately fix them: slip them under the sofa, ask someone to hold them, etc.
We place our hands behind our heads or cross them over our chests. If you are a beginner, you can stretch your arms behind your head and move them forward when lifting.
Please note: do not put pressure on your head or neck with your hands.
The back is pressed tightly to the surface. Minimize the natural arch in your lower back.
Take a deep breath and as you exhale, lift your body with a rounded back.
At the top point, you should exhale as much as possible, tense your abdominal muscles and hold for 2-3 seconds.
After this, while inhaling, we lower ourselves down and relax.

You need to repeat 15-20 times, 3-4 approaches will be enough.

Of course, the abdominal muscles quickly adapt to any load, and this exercise should be performed in combination with others or periodically replaced.

Lying leg raises (suitable for warming up)

For example, crunches or body raises can be alternated with lying leg raises. This exercise allows you to pump up the lower part of the rectus abdominis muscle.

All exercises with leg raises will always be more difficult for the abs than crunches or upper body raises

Exercise technique:

We lie down on our backs. Legs extended. Hands along the body.
When lifting your legs, your back often tries to take the load, so to minimize this phenomenon, place your hands under your buttocks and keep them there during the entire exercise.
We take a deep breath and, as we exhale, lift our legs off the floor.
We raise our legs until they are perpendicular to the floor, hold this position for several seconds and begin to slowly, feeling the abdominal muscles, lower our legs.
At the lowest point, it is advisable not to touch the surface so that the load is constant.

Lying leg raise exercise technique

For a beginner, this method may seem quite complicated, so it makes sense to lift your legs one by one. With an exhalation, we raise one leg to an angle of 45–60 degrees, hold and slowly lower it. When the first leg touches the floor, you can lift the second one.

Do not confuse this exercise with reverse crunches. When lifting the legs, as we described above, we end the exercise with the legs perpendicular to the floor. In reverse crunches, at the top point you need to lift your buttocks off the floor and twist your lower body a little more towards you. It looks like this:

Don't confuse reverse crunches with leg raises. These are different exercises

Exercise "scissors"

This exercise has some similarities to the previous one, and it is probably familiar to many.

Exercise technique:

We lie down on our backs.
Legs are extended, arms lie along the body.
In this case, you can also place your hands under your buttocks to remove excess stress from your lower back.
We raise our legs to a level of 45–60 degrees and begin to make horizontal cross movements.
We repeat a certain number of times and lower our feet to the floor. Let's relax. Then we repeat.

Scissor exercise technique

Such approaches need to be repeated 4–5, each 15–20 times.

This exercise can be performed in a large amplitude, not just crossing the legs, but spreading them wide to the sides, then bringing them together and then crossing them.

Another variation of the scissors exercise with leg raises

And another version of this exercise is not horizontal crossings, but vertical swings.

Variant of the scissors exercise with vertical swings

Elbow-knee ab exercise

There are two versions of this exercise based on the area of muscles being worked: the rectus abdominis and the oblique abdominal muscles. As well as several options with varying difficulty.

Exercise technique:

We lie down on our backs.
We move our hands behind our heads.
The legs can be in one of four positions: bent at the knees and standing on the floor or lying extended on the floor (easy); lie on a hill (easy); or they can be held in the air (difficult).
The goal of this exercise is to reach your elbows to your knees.
We perform simultaneous twisting of both the body and legs, that is, we strive to connect them in the middle.
If we work with the rectus muscles, then our task is to touch both elbows to both knees.
Exercise option for the rectus abdominis muscles
If we want to work the oblique muscles, then we should touch the opposite elbow and knee.
When we work the oblique and serratus abdominal muscles, we need to touch the opposite elbow and knee
If the legs lie on a hill, then we perform the twist to a greater extent using the upper part of the body, the lower part is fixed, so the exercise is easy and suitable for beginners.
Another easy option is when you raise your legs and put them back on the floor.
The most difficult option is when the legs are twisted together with the body, that is, you pull them towards you and then straighten them, but do not touch the floor with your feet.

The number of repetitions is from 15 to 25, 3-4 approaches will be enough.

Video: Easy version of oblique twists “knee-elbow”

Video: Complex version of oblique twists “knee-elbow”

Plank - classic and side (the most effective exercise to pump up your abdominal muscles)

The plank exercise, according to research, is one of the ten best abdominal exercises. Moreover, it shows itself most effectively for the oblique abdominal muscles.

There are a lot of plank options. We will look at two classic types - the classic plank and the side plank. Both of these exercises can be performed dynamically. For example, pulling your legs to your chest, raising your arm, leg, jumping, and so on.

Classic plank

The plank can be performed in three ways, from the simplest to the most complex:

on outstretched arms
The extended arm plank is a great option for beginners.
on the forearms
In the elbow plank it is a little more difficult to maintain a straight body, so it is better to practice the technique in the plank with outstretched arms
on the palms (chaturanga dandasana)
This pose is borrowed from yoga. This is a difficult option that even someone who has been practicing for a long time will not always be able to perform correctly.

Exercise technique:

We lie down on our stomachs. This is the starting position from which you need to get into plank pose. But if it’s very difficult for you, you can immediately stand in a plank position from a comfortable position.
Legs lie straight.
We put our feet on our toes. The closer your feet are to each other, the more difficult it is to perform the exercise.
We lean either on our elbows or on our palms.
We inhale and exhale, push up to the required plank version.
You need to hold this position for 20 seconds to several minutes. It all depends on your preparation.
It is important to take care of your body. Regardless of which plank you stand in, the whole body should be one straight line: the stomach is tucked, the pelvis is not tilted or lifted, the back is straight, the neck is relaxed.
Don't forget to breathe. Breathing should be smooth and calm. At least this is what we should strive for.

Side plank

This exercise can also be done:

at arm's length
Side plank at arm's length
on the forearm
Side plank on the elbow

Exercise technique:

We lie down on our sides.
A more difficult option is when one leg lies on top of the other, but a beginner may find this method very difficult, so you can put your feet next to each other.
We rise on the elbow or on an outstretched arm, helping ourselves with the other hand.
Inhale and exhale lift your body off the floor. You should hold on only with the help of a foot (or two) and a supporting arm: neither the body, nor the pelvis, nor the legs should be in contact with the floor.
You also need to make sure that the body is one straight line.
The supporting hand should be strictly under the shoulder.
We stay in this position for the required time - also from 20 seconds to several minutes - and change sides.

Start performing the plank exercise with the minimum possible time and increase the time each time by adding 5-10 seconds. Thus, if you do this exercise regularly, you can easily reach a few minutes in a month.

The abdominal muscles quickly get used to the load, so you should strive to include different exercise options in your training, alternate and replace them, then you can achieve greater efficiency.

Workout program for burning belly and flank fat

Incline crunches 3 x 30;
Crunches on the floor 3 x 30;
Hanging leg raises 3 x 30;
Leg lifts on parallel bars 3 x 30;
Leg raises on an inclined bench 3 x 20 – 30;
Diagonal crunches “bicycle” 3 x 40;
Fold 3 x 30;
“Burning” lying down, short crunches 3 x 40;
Reverse crunches, lying leg raises 3 x 30;
Side crunches 3 x 30;
Plank, 1 minute, 3 sets.

How much do you need to exercise to get rid of your stomach and sides?

Unfortunately, there are no instant results. During the first month, the muscles will become toned, and the body will adapt to the correct diet. At this time, volumes in the waist area disappear well, but at the same time, the abdomen may remain, since fat in this area is more difficult to lose. And this requires more effort and longer time.

The time to lose weight will depend on the initial weight; the greater it is, the longer it will take to lose it. And also, the constitution plays an important role. For example, the “apple” shape tends to gain fat in the abdominal area, and the extra centimeters in this area will be the last to be lost. This may take six months. Training should take place 3 to 5 times a week. Classes should alternate between strength exercises and cardio (running, jumping, elliptical trainers).

The best exercises to burn belly fat

Abdominal exercises (such as crunches) won't do much to burn belly fat, but will only strengthen your muscles. Doing them is a waste of time as long as the muscles are covered with fat. What exercises for losing weight on the abdomen and sides are most effective in the fight against fat?

We recommend reading what you need to do to lose weight.

To get rid of belly and side fat, you need to burn calories. It is extremely difficult to transform your belly with diet alone, so you need to not only eat less, but also move more. Because of this, the best way to burn fat is through cardio. It is in response to cardio exercise that the deep layers of fat respond best and are the first to begin to disappear after intense training begins. Research shows that cardio exercise for belly fat loss also leads to overall weight loss. You can burn belly fat with regular exercise (even without any diet), but in this case the results will not be so impressive. Additionally, people who exercise regularly are known to have less body fat around their waist compared to those who lead a sedentary lifestyle.

Tips from trainers for effective weight loss

Note ! To lose weight in the abdominal area, trainers advise paying attention to all muscle groups, and not just the abdominal muscles. By training large muscles, exhausting energy as much as possible, the weight loss process will go faster.

It is impossible to lose weight in only one area, so losing weight in the desired area must be approached comprehensively from all sides. If you want your stomach to lose weight, train your legs; even morning exercises will help correct the abdominal area. Training these muscle groups is the most energy-intensive. Once a week, you can add any hour of cardio training or a walk in the fresh air.

Which hoop is better and more effective for weight loss?

If you are a beginner and you have yet to learn how to spin a hoop before you start actively using it for weight loss, you should buy a lighter hoop, such as an aluminum hoop (hollow inside) or plastic. This way you can quickly learn how to perform the technique and burn calories. After you have perfected the technique, you can use more weighted hoops or, for example, pour sand or peas into an already purchased aluminum (hollow) one; in a word, everything that comes to your mind, the main goal is to make it heavier. A weighted hoop (from 1.5 to 3 kg) will help you lose weight in the abdominal area and slightly adjust the contours of your waist.

In order to lose weight in the abdominal area, get rid of bulging sides and cellulite in this area, give preference to a massage hoop. This hoop has massage balls on its surface that can cope not only with fat in the abdominal area, but also with annoying cellulite.

When buying a hoop, be sure to make sure that the hoop fits your height; to do this, stand up straight, place the hoop on the floor in front of you and attach it to your body, the upper edge of the hoop should reach the level of your lower ribs. Also, when buying a hoop, make sure that the entire surface is smooth and free of nicks and other defects. When purchasing a massage hoop, make sure that the balls built into the surface of the hoop are soft and rotate around their axis.

Advice from nutritionists

It is important to know ! The main enemy of a slim figure is carbohydrates, especially pure glucose. Refusal of confectionery and flour products will help improve the process of weight loss with great speed.

Especially, such products are dangerous because they contain simple carbohydrates and fats at the same time. In addition to fat deposition, sweets retain excess water in the body. Therefore, giving up simple carbohydrates will help relieve swelling and significantly reduce body volume. But you shouldn’t completely give up sweets. You can allow fruits, dried fruits (dried apricots, prunes, raisins) and honey in the first half of the day.

Best Foods for Belly Fat Loss

Squirrels . Products with a high protein content and a minimum of fat help saturate the body without compromising your figure. The absence of carbohydrates will allow you to take such foods at any time, even late dinner, namely: chicken and quail eggs, lean chicken meat, beef, turkey, rabbit, lean fish.
Vegetables . Plant foods are rich in fiber, which improves digestion. Moreover, such products are low in calories, contain no fat at all and have a low content of carbohydrates, which include solid dietary fiber.
Cereals . A necessary source of energy, dietary fiber, vitamins and microelements. Without complex carbohydrates, the body becomes weak. But for weight loss, it is better to consume such products in small quantities in the first half of the day.